A Suitable Host

So many options and so many decisions lie ahead for anyone looking at a camper van. If money is no problem then you still need to understand what you are actually going to need on the road. If you take everything available then the end result is likely a large RV style motorhome which will come with its own set of problems such as height and width restrictions, power requirements and manoeuvrability issues. This option was taken off our list very early on.

Next we looked at smaller van type vehicles which were only really big enough to fit a bed in. The thought was that we would be out exploring most of the day and only really needed a place to sleep. Although this option still has its merits and would be a considerably cheaper option it felt too much like a compromise on space for the sake of saving some money. This option had to go.

Now I am a professional driver and can handle most vehicles but I didn’t wish to struggle with any manoeuvrability problems and restricted access to seafront areas and shopping centres was also a consideration. We therefore made a decision that we wanted a lower roof van no more than 5 metres in length, which luckily covered a plethora of suitable medium sized vans.

We then started to look for affordable vans in this sector and quickly found out that due to unprecedented levels of demand and an equally strained supply chain that van prices had rocketed and we would need to make some further refinements to our wish list. We needed a reasonably young van with low mileage and in good condition – you can stop laughing now!

This post could go on for pages if we covered all the ideas and options available to us and I am not going to make it sound like we had any brilliant ideas that other people had not already had, but we had to purchase a van far enough in advance of retiring (no more disposable income) that we had money available to make any necessary modifications.

Okay so the shortlist ended up being: low roof, SWB, EU6 engine, windows all round, low mileage and not already converted to some standard specification that would not be suitable for us. Couple that with a limited supply of vehicles, available budget and complete exhaustion with anything and everything van related we settled for a 2017 Ford Tourneo Custom 310 Zetec TDCI which had been converted for wheelchair access.

Why wheelchair access? Well it had most of the seats removed already and was low mileage. We were going to have to remove the rear seats anyway and we wanted windows all round and a tailgate. Most other vans were either panel vans with no windows or half windows, ex-minibuses with high mileage or too expensive – plus we get the added benefit of a lowered floor which gives us a little more head room without requiring a high roof van.

That’s where our van story begins, we need some mechanical and cosmetic work doing initially and we will post about these as we go along but this is likely going to be a long term conversion project.